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CASSHERN SINS #20 - - Watch & Learn

Well, of course she's a false prophet. What were you expecting?

This one felt less like a properly-plotted episode and
more like some ethereal tone poem strumming on the most abstract impressions of disappointment. There are a few jumps in plotting - - how exactly did Dune get from the wasteland to here? - - that really get by easier if you interpret all of this as happening between the
blinks of a sleepy eye (like the one that’s
tearing at the start of the intro!)

For 20 episodes, the show’s been building Luna up as this
paragon of purity, salvation, stolen innocence and all other the precious qualities
you’d ascribe to a dainty robo-world messiah. Not only is all of that turned on
its head here, the girl also goes about the betrayal in such a coy and avoidant
fashion. Sort of like how you might have a
dream about, say, Christmas getting abruptly cancelled and everybody in your
family refuses to tell you why (or even act like anything’s amiss).

Early on, a lot of you lunatics said this show was one of
the most depressing anime you’d ever seen. I assumed you were all talking about the consistently melancholic tone
throughout, but I’m starting to suspect that this will have a serious downer
ending, as well. Not only does our hero
start off with a taint on his conscience, his attempt at redemption will turn out
to be a fruitless effort to restore something that was a sham to begin
with. At this point, I can very easily
envision the last shot of this show lingering on Casshern standing amid a sea
of junked bodies; the last remaining being in an entire world that’s fallen to
the Ruin.

Or maybe Casshern will succumb to the Ruin just like our
pal, Dune? That'll give us an ending to pass the bon-bons around about. I’m thinking I should brace myself for some
sorrow, woe and whatever synonyms for “sadness” seem appropriate.

Watch this episode, “For
Whom do the Flowers Bloom?” here and decide for yourself, then read my
comments on the previous episode here.

Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number
of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - -tompinchuk.com- - and follow his Twitter:@tompinchuk